Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

The draft came and went this past weekend, and because teams were not allowed to trade players, Kevin Kolb remained an Eagle.

And so the obvious question is: What happens now?

While there's no clear answer, we know (as has been the case for some time now) that the Eagles will have to settle for future draft picks or players for Kolb, whenever they are allowed to deal him.

Which brings us to a note from SI.com's Peter King in his Monday Morning Quarterback column. King reports that a team has already offered a 2012 first-round pick for Kolb.

Point is, Kolb doesn't want to be in Philadelphia; he wants to have a chance to get a starting job somewhere else, and Reid has promised him to try to make a deal if it benefits the Eagles. He already has an offer of a first-round pick in the 2012 draft from an unknown team. The window for the 2011 league year opened and closed quickly last week; players like Kolb who want to be traded and free-agents who want to hit the market have to wait for the league year to open before moving. That could happen this week if the Eighth Circuit forces the NFL to open doors and end the lockout.

One thing to keep in mind is that King's report presumably came from someone on the Eagles' side of things, considering that he said it was an "unknown team." There's always the possibility of the Birds trying to create a favorable trade market.

But the draft provided some clarity on which teams might still be interested in. In the first two rounds, six QB-needy teams drafted that position: the Panthers, Titans, Jaguars, Vikings, Bengals and 49ers.

Some have Tweeted at me, saying that doesn't necessarily mean those teams should be counted out as Kolb suitors, but I disagree. Kolb will only turn 27 next season, and any team that decides to pony up the compensation to acquire him will likely be looking to sign him to a long-term deal and make him their guy for the next several years.

At the same time, the teams that spent a first- or second-round pick on a quarterback likely want that guy to take over the starting role in the next two-to-three years. For example, Vikings coach Leslie Fraziertold 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that ideally, he'd like Christian Ponder to be the starter in Week 1 of next season.

So while it's still possible that one of the teams that drafted a quarterback would still make a move for Kolb, it's highly unlikely.

Keeping that in mind, there are still some potential suitors for Kolb. Here are some teams that still might be in the market for a quarterback: the Bills, Cardinals, Browns, Redskins, Seahawks and Dolphins.

Of that group, Seattle, Miami and Arizona probably stand out. None of those three teams selected a quarterback over the weekend, although there have been several reports that the Cardinals could take a shot on veteran Marc Bulger.

The Seahawks might be the favorites to land Kolb at this point. Seattle has come under fire by many draft analysts for its draft.

Meanwhile, in his column, King said he had a feeling the Seahawks had "a specific player in mind" to fill their QB need.

Sure seems like the pieces fit from my perspective.

From the Eagles' perspective, the danger in trading for a 2012 pick is simple: They have no clue what that pick it's going to be, and everything depends on how the team that trades for Kolb finishes. There are probably trade provisions that could be put into place to help with the uncertainty. For example, maybe the deal stipulates that if it's a first-round pick between 16-32, the Eagles would also receive a fourth-rounder.

We'll just have to wait and see, but the Birds' front office will likely have to get creative to get a deal done.

The one thing that seems pretty certain right now is that Kolb is gone unless the Eagles just can't find a trade partner. Andy Reid would normally be tight-lipped about such matters. Over the weekend, he didn't even want to address the obvious question surrounding David Akers' future after the Eagles drafted kicker Alex Henery in the fourth round.

But when asked about Kolb, Reid doesn't seem to hide the fact that the Eagles will be looking to deal him once they are allowed to.

"We know the people that were interested in Kevin before we were given the restrictions that we were given and the rules that we were given where we couldn’t talk," he told reporters over the weekend. "So we know where we left off there and we’ll see how things work out once everything’s lifted. Who knows? Who knows when we’ll be able to do that, but we’ll look at it. And I will tell you the same thing I said before, I’m going to keep my ears open but that doesn’t mean that anything is going to open."

One final thought on the subject. The market could very well shrink if the lockout drags into the season. Kolb's impact might be limited if he's not able to practice at all with the new team this offseason. Potential suitors might shy away from dealing a high pick to the Eagles when they very well could have a shot at Kolb as a free agent in 2012 anyway.